Leonard Steinberg is the president of Compass, a New York apartment-finder startup. He was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, a child of immigrants. Previous to Compass, Steinberg was an executive vice president of Douglas Elliman, the largest residential real estate brokerage in New York, and worked for Corcoran, a competing firm.

Leonard is widely considered to be a top Manhattan broker and has brokered large deals like Dolce & Gabbana's 200 11th Avenue penthouse for $32 million. Steinberg worked as a marketing agent and consultant on developments at 200 11th Avenue, 150 Charles Street and 54 Bond Street. In 2014, he ranked sixth on The Real Deal's list of top residential brokers, with over $330 million in listings. He has been a part of over $2 billion worth of residential transactions during his career.

Before his career in real estate, Steinberg owned a fashion company and was a fashion designer at Christian Dior America. He later recorded an album of original piano compositions but decided to give up professional music shortly after.

The announcement looked like a big win for the brokerageÃ¢ÂÂs three-year-old new-development division. Compass, the venture capital-backed startup founded by Ori Allon and Robert Reffkin in 2010, has brought on big names such as Leonard Steinberg, Toni Haber and Billy Goldstein in recent years and has closed $417.6 million in New York City new-development condo deals since June 2014...

They were followed by Compass President Leonard Steinberg with $253 million in new-development listings Ã¢Â' a chunk of them at Ben ShaoulÃ¢ÂÂs 196 Orchard on the Lower East Side and the Foster + Partners-designed 100 East 53rd Street...

Clocking in at No. 6 was BHSÃ¢ÂÂ Paula Del Nunzio, a perennial top-performer, with $419.7 million in listings. She was followed by the longtime power-team of Corcoran GroupÃ¢ÂÂs Carrie Chiang and Janet Wang ($407.6 million). Rounding out the top 10 were EllimanÃ¢ÂÂs J. Roger Erickson ($349.6 million), the Modlin GroupÃ¢ÂÂs Adam Modlin ($328.1 million) and Compass President Leonard Steinberg ($297.8 million)...

And itÃ¢ÂÂs not just megacities like New York, Hong Kong or London. Leonard Steinberg, president of the Manhattan-based brokerage Compass, said Ã¢ÂÂother centers beside thoseÃ¢ÂÂ also draw interest...

CompassÃ¢ÂÂ Leonard Steinberg, for example, who joined the startup as president last summer after 13 years at Douglas Elliman, had $324.8 million in listings, or 51 percent of CompassÃ¢ÂÂ $637 million worth of total listings, the data show...

Nabbing the No. 2 spot, Compass Ã¢Â' which is backed by more than $70 million in venture funding Ã¢Â' cracked TRDÃ¢ÂÂs ranking for the first time this year. It had 168 agents and racked up $486.7 million worth of listings, including 71 Franklin Street, a mansion thatÃ¢ÂÂs asking $65 million. Top broker Leonard Steinberg, who is also CompassÃ¢ÂÂ president, has that listing as well as one for a $46 million townhouse at 2 North Moore Street in Tribeca...

In rank order, the remainder of the Top 10 is: Leonard Steinberg and Herve Senequier, who shocked the industry with their move from Elliman to Urban Compass last month (see related story on page 50); the Corcoran GroupÃ¢ÂÂs Carrie Chiang/Janet Wang Team; Raphael De NiroÃ¢ÂÂs team at Elliman; Taub of Stribling & Associates; and BHSÃ¢ÂÂ Boisson Aries...